Basic life support (BLS) training includes learning how to perform medical interventions such as airway maintenance, circulation maintenance, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED), fracture splinting, and spinal cord injury management. BLS training also covers the assessment of medical, cardiac, and trauma patients, as well as the treatment of poisoning and overdose emergencies, the management of diabetic emergencies, the care of patients with altered mental status, and the treatment of soft tissue injuries. BLS students must learn how to intervene in obstetrics and gynecology emergencies, severe allergic reactions, acute abdominal problems, and environmental emergencies. Other skills learned in BLS training include how to lift and move patients without injuring them, how to gather a medical history, how to practice general pharmacology, how to handle behavioral emergencies, how to respond to terrorism, and how to operate different types of ambulances and emergency medical equipment.
Although BLS training varies slightly from one location to the next, all students should be able to provide pre-hospital care to one of three types of patients: medical, cardiac, or trauma. Each broad training area can be subdivided into smaller sub-areas. For example, learning how to use airway adjuncts, a bag-valve mask (BVM), suctioning equipment, and oxygen cylinders is part of training for dealing with respiratory emergencies and maintaining an airway. It also entails learning about the risks of suctioning, the risks of using nasopharyngeal airways, and the two maneuvers that are used to open a patient’s airway.
BLS training is required for all levels of emergency medical technicians (EMTs), paramedics, paramedic specialists, and critical care paramedics to work on an ambulance, also known as a “rig.” These medical professionals not only learn basic life support, but also how to help with advanced life support (ALS). Helping to prepare a patient for intubation, applying electrocardiogram (ECG) electrodes, assisting with intravenous (IV) therapy, and assisting with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and bi-level positive airway pressure (BPAP) are just a few of the skills covered in this area of BLS training (BIPAP). The medic may also receive training to operate and maintain the ambulance, depending on the ambulance company or hospital for which he or she works.
The fact that EMTs and paramedics can be targets of domestic violence and terrorism necessitates that they be trained to perform a scene size-up for their own safety. When working in areas with downed power lines, flooding, fire, and other dangerous conditions, environmental emergencies cannot be separated from training to recognize hazardous materials and hazards in nature. Medics are typically trained to perform triage in order to efficiently handle a multiple casualty incident in which rescuers must deviate from their normal procedures in order to attend to the lives with the best chance of survival. BLS training emphasizes body substance isolation to help the medic protect himself or herself from the numerous diseases to which healthcare providers are exposed.